Just to set the stage, allow me to remind you of just what the Obama Administration did to Sharyl Attkisson. From Fox News (h/t Helenk):

[…] Attkisson’s forthcoming book–“Stonewalled: My Fight for Truth Against the Forces of Obstruction and Intimidation in Obama’s Washington”—reads in part like a spy thriller. Just when you think Attkisson’s imagination might be running away with her comes wave after wave of evidence that both her CBS computer and personal iMac were repeatedly hacked and its files accessed, including one on Benghazi. A consultant hired by CBS reached the same conclusion. Further scrutiny of her personal desktop proves that “the interlopers were able to co-opt my iMac and operate it remotely, as if they were sitting in front of it.” And an inspection revealed that an extra fiber-optics line had been installed in Attkisson’s home without her knowledge.

This is chilling stuff.

There is the strong implication that an administration that spied on the Associated Press and Fox News correspondent James Rosen might have been involved. A Justice Department spokesman said in an earlier statement that “to our knowledge” the department “has never ‘compromised’ Ms. Attkisson’s computers” or tried to obtain information from any of her devices. A spokeswoman for CBS News said the network had no comment on the book.

In the fall of 2013, with White House officials accusing Attkisson of being biased in her Benghazi reporting, the files in her MacBook Air suddenly began deleting at hyperspeed right before her eyes. She videotaped the process and showed it to two computer experts. “They’re [blanking] with you,” one says. “They’re trying to send you a message,” says the other. The experts also found evidence that the intruders had tried to cover their tracks by erasing 23 hours of log-in information. […] (Click here to read the rest.)

So Susan Page’s comments shouldn’t come as a HUGE surprise, I suppose, though it might explain why some of these journalists have pandered so to this Administration. Still, it is indeed “chilling,” to borrow from Howard Kurtz above. From HuffPo:

[…] USA Today Washington Bureau Chief Susan Page said at a White House Correspondents’ Association (WHCA) event on Saturday that the current administration is more threatening to press freedom than “any administration in American history.” Page said she was “really worried” about what could happen if the White House continues to prevent reporters from doing their job of telling the news and telling the truth.

“This administration has been more restrictive and more challenging to the press, more dangerous to the press, really, than any administration in American history,” Page said. “I think access to the White House has just gotten worse and worse.”

In January, former New York Times executive editor Jill Abramson called the Obama administration “the most secretive White House” she has ever encountered as a journalist. Associated Press Washington Bureau Chief Sally Buzbee also chimed in on White House transparency in September, citing daily “intimidation” tactics and firmly stating that the current administration is “significantly worse than previous administrations.”

The famous media lawyer James C. Goodale, who represented The New York Times through the Pentagon Papers case, condemned Obama for criminalizing whistleblowers and reporters who use them as sources, boldly stating that “Obama will surely pass President Richard Nixon as the worst president ever on issues of national security and press freedom.” […] (Click here to read the rest.)

So much for that whole transparency thing, huh?

And of course, this matters on a HOST of levels, including the upcoming elections, as well as previous elections. Though I am not sure if this is why ABC World News, say, has failed to report on the mid-term elections in months. Mediaite reports:

ABC’s nightly newscast, World News Tonight, hasn’t mentioned the upcoming midterm elections in nearly two months, according to a study by the conservative Media Research Center.

The report, which compares the three broadcast nightly newscast midterm coverage from Sep. 1 to Oct. 20, showed that NBC’s Nightly News has covered the story 11 times in the same period. CBS’s Evening News covered the elections 14 times. […] (Click here to read the rest.)

Still, that the media is feeling threatened and hamstrung, that they consider this Administration to be the most “dangerous” ever, is truly disconcerting. But the ones who suffer most from this is us (and it sure explains why Obama and the Democrats still have as much support as they do). With the upcoming elections, though, the lack of coverage is unacceptable.

At least that’s what I think. What do you think? This is an Open Thread.

UPDATE: Here is an excerpt of Susan Page’s comments regarding the Obama Administration. What she has to say about the impact to our democracy is telling:

Interestingly the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel didn’t headline the fact that people had the gall to walk out while teh won was speaking last night in Milwaukee.
I voted straight republican yesterday even though I’m a bit angry at Paul Ryan – stance on immigration.

Hi Piper! I voted straight Republican last Friday. I too am disappointed in Paul Ryan but as I have been saying ad nauseum at this point in time there may be many bad Republicans but I can see no good Democrats. They chose party over country and accept all manner of nasty tricks. Once integrity is lost is it darn near impossible to regain. The same for trust.

And the Journal Sentinel is another in a very long list of “news” papers that doesn’t report the news if it doesn’t suit their ideology.

I find it amazing that for all the ways that this administration has tried to silence or intimidate the media most of them still kow-tow to them. Have they no self-respect? Have they no shame? Have they no integrity? Has ideology finally taken the place of decency on the left?

Personally I would answer no, no, no, and yes to those questions.

A free country cannot remain free without an honest press. What we have for the most part is the American version of Pravda. And that is frightening.

you will love this one
If you are an American citizen living in a foreign country and a couple from that country ask you to be a surrogate mother, that child becomes an American citizen at birth. new idea floating around in today’s government

House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, on White House’s discussion of Israel: ‘When the president discusses Israel and Iran, it is sometimes hard to tell who he thinks is America’s friend and who he thinks is America’s enemy’ – @NBCNews
End of alert

Good one! And yeah – seems they are leaning toward OWS-er, Warren, the multimillionaire, liar who took advantage of a heritage she appears not to have to get some perks she didn’t deserve. Sounds abt right!

Boy she’s a piece of work isn’t she? “She didn’t do it to serve them”, says Ms Snotty Pants like some adolescent. She couldn’t make her resentment plainer if she tatooed it on her forehead.

She is claiming to be protecting equal rights. Whose rights? The right of free speech and the right to be free from persecution for your beliefs? My guess is these woman has no interest whatsoever in what is preached Islam. Only Christians are not allowed, it appears, to voice their beliefs. It is getting scary.

Uh, yeah – “Snotty Pants” does seem to fit. And newsflash – she IS an elected official, which means it is her JOB to serve the people. That she doesn’t get that says oh-so-much abt her, doesn’t it?

No doubt that she is not worried abt what imams are saying abt transgendered people, gay people, and even women. But Christians are a WHOLE different matter. Sigh. It is amazing how incredibly hypocritical, shallow, thin-skinned, and arrogant elected officials can be…

I wonder if she understand how all this will come back to haunt her when she runs for re-election. Many who supported her will not do so again. The hard-core feminists will but many others will be disgusted with her behavior.

Over 214,000 doctors won’t participate in the new plans under the Affordable Care Act (ACA,) analysis of a new survey by Medical Group Management Association shows. That number of 214,524, estimated by American Action Forum, is through May 2014, but appears to be growing due to plans that force doctors to take on burdensome costs. It’s also about a quarter of the total number of 893,851 active professional physicians reported by the Kaiser Family Foundation.

In January, an estimated 70% of California’s physicians were not participating in Covered California plans.

Here are some of the reasons why:

1. Reimbursements under Obamacare are at bottom-dollar – they are even lower than Medicare reimbursements, which are already significantly below market rates. “It is estimated that where private plans pay $1.00 for a service, Medicare pays $0.80, and ACA exchange plans are now paying about $0.60,” a study by the think-tank American Action Forum finds. “For example, Covered California plans are setting their plan fee schedules in line with that of Medi-Cal-California’s Medicaid Program-which means exchange plans are cutting provider reimbursement by up to 40 percent.”

No, it isn’t I saw something abt this the other day. This is precisely what the doctors warned of, though, if Obamacare passed. Many said they would drop out, some said they would leave medicine altogether, others said they wouldn’t take Medicaid, and on the list goes. So, yeah, this was another way the Dems completely screwed over the country. Just how long do they think people will be waiting NOW to get care when almost half a million doctors are pulling out??

Good grief. And I concur with the father for saying that it is wrong for Islam to be part of Middle Eastern studies when there is little attention to Christianity. I might add, Judaism should also be taught in Middle Eastern studies. If the latter two are not, why the hell is the former??

I might add, Henry was pretty much on topic for this post, when he made this statement to Earnest: Ed Henry: On that question, Ron raised a good point about the leaks in a grand jury. The administration has spoken out on them. The administration also has a long track record over the many months about complaining about leaks involving national security. We’ve seen threats to reporters like James Risen, who could potentially be thrown into jail over leaks to him. James Rosen’s phone records gone through because of leaks to him.

My question going back to the Israel story is, why then are you kind of sloughing off this idea that you kind don’t care who leaked that story that insulted of the prime minister of Israel? You have gone after reporters again and again in this administration to find out who leaked information to them. And then when it comes to insulting the prime minister, you don’t seem to care who leaked it.

Josh Earnest: Again, I do not think that is an accurate reflection of the policy or of our views of the Prime Minister of Israel.

Henry: Hasn’t the Justice Department gone after a whole series of reporters?

Oh, and Steven Hayes just mentioned on “Special Report” that it is astonishing that people are focusing on the name-calling when the BIG part of this story is that out of ALL the despicable leaders in the world – from Iran to North Korea – that this person mentioned our one democratic ally in the Middle East (I am paraphrasing). That is stunning when you think abt it…

Well Piper and I did our parts. Now it’s up to the rest of the decent people in Wisconsin. If they accept the outrageous behavior of the Dems for the past four years then they are saying they want Wisconsin to become just like our corrupt neighbor to the south.

I don’t think any thinking Wisconsinite wants us to be like Illinois. Or maybe they do. After all Illinois has been a laughing stock for its corruption for many years and the idiot voters just keep voting for the Dems.

Boy this critter just can’t keep from showing us how “special” she is. She doesn’t have to follow the rules like the rest of us do. I think she does herself more harm than she knows. I certainly wouldn’t want someone like her taking care of me. She thinks she knows it all and we all know no one does. Disgusting POS IMO.

Watch the heads exploding. 😆
Sarah Palin, the former Republican nominee for vice president and all-around pot stirrer, dropped a big hint on Tuesday, saying she “hopefully” will run for office again “in the future.”

“Hey, the more they’re pouring it on, the more I’m going to bug the crap out of them by being out there, with a voice, with the message, Hopefully running for office in the future too,” she said, speaking to the Fox Business Network.